Handforth memorial plan gathers pace

HANDFORTHMEMORIAL

A planning application has been submitted for the erection of a war memorial on the grass verge off Wilmslow Road in Handforth.

During 2014, Handforth Parish Council debated building a war memorial. The outcome of that debate was that the provision of the war memorial would be supported by the Parish Council (by grants in excess of £10,000) but would become the responsibility of a group of trustees drawn from the Handforth community.

The Handforth Community War Memorial Foundation (HCWMF) was established in November 2014 by a group of eight trustees that include the vicar of the parish church of St Chad.

HCWMF propose that Handforth's war memorial should be located on the open space, 15m wide grass verge that separates the main carriageway of Wilmslow Road (B5358) through Handforth centre from its side branch. The war memorial will be accessed by a 7m long paved (York stone) pathway of 2m width.

The memorial stone and its base will have a total height of 4.5m. The square paved area around the base of the memorial will be contained either by chains hung between stone bollards or a low, decorative metal fence.

Trustee Dr Roger Small said "An externally-located war memorial is needed in Handforth to honour the memory of villagers (of whatever religious belief) who fell in battle and to provide a site for the wreath-laying ceremony associated with Remembrance Day parades. Until recently, Remembrance Day parades in Handforth culminated with a wreath laying ceremony at a small garden of remembrance adjacent to the buildings of the former Handforth Royal British Legion Club Ltd and Handforth Station.

"This garden of remembrance lies well below the level of the main thoroughfare (Station Road) and is screened from the highway not only by a hawthorn hedge but also by a brick wall. The demise of the Royal British Legion Club Ltd has meant that the future of the land containing the garden of remembrance is very much in doubt. Indeed, soil samples have recently been taken as a prelude to the site's redevelopment. A new site is therefore required for the wreath laying ceremony associated with the Remembrance Day parade."

Dr Small added "Settlements that surround Handforth include Heald Green (Long Lane), Knutsford, Poynton, Styal, Over Peover, Wilmslow and Woodford. Each of these settlements has a war memorial (a community hall in the case of Woodford) that may be easily observed by users of the main thoroughfare through the settlement. HCWMF hopes that Handforth will be able to emulate the surrounding villages in having a readily visible war memorial and that it will be in place in time for the Remembrance Day parade of 2015."

Anthony Harrison, Chairman of Handforth Community War Memorial Foundation, said "We hope this application gains a lot of support at it is a needed addition to the village and the site has carefully been selected to ensure it is not in the greenbelt, there are no services under the memorial itself and that no additional road will needed to be closed for any parades."

HCWMF held two public meetings at which residents of Handforth were asked to choose a memorial design. A clear majority chose a memorial similar to that shown in the photograph above. Final design detail will be dependent on the outcome of fundraising activity. HCWMF believe that the memorial will not be unduly imposing or obtrusive with respect to the houses served by the side branch of Wilmslow Road.

The planning application can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for planning reference 15/0807M. The deadline for submitting comments is 8th April and a decision is expected to be made by 1st May.

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Handforth Community War Memorial Foundation
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Paul Sidorczuk
Wednesday 1st April 2015 at 9:40 am
The one at nearby Heald Green is in a similar type of location where it can by viewed easily,
Anthony Harrison
Wednesday 1st April 2015 at 10:20 am
Since the planning application has been submitted the trustees of Handforth Community War Memorial Foundation have been consulting the local residents and all comments that we have received have been acted upon.

The trustees are driven to supply the community of Handforth with a memorial that is fit for all, we have taken all comments into consideration and amended the design accordingly. The design element itself remains unchanged but we have reduced the height of the memorial to 3.3m to ensure that all neighbouring residents comments have been addressed.

Thank you to all residents for their comments and continued support.
John Bibby
Wednesday 1st April 2015 at 1:20 pm
The sacrifice that they made is the utmost of all sacrifices. Let us all remember them with gratitude and pride in honouring them with our full support for this memorial. So future generations will also remember them.
Philip Barton
Thursday 2nd April 2015 at 7:42 am
Well done to the HCWMF committee for pushing this forward. Good luck to them, however I don't think they will need luck. Anthony and I met Michael jones last night and he said that land was owned by CEC, not green belt and he would do all he can to ensure planning permission is granted. He is now proudly wearing his wrist band after making a donation to the fund.